Are Dodge, Nissan, Kia, And Mitsubishi Sales Being Driven By Sub Prime Credit Customers?

Dodge. Nissan. Kia. Mitsubishi. Ever wonder how any cars from these makes end up getting sold?

While there are certainly cars from these brands that attract the higher end of the automotive consumer marketplace (Hellcat, anyone?), the vast majority of the customers who end up in a car from one of these brands are in them for one reason, and one reason alone: they’ve got subprime credit. And they’re not alone.

In fact, over half of the American public now has subprime credit, and there’s no sign that it’s getting better any time soon. As a result, most customers are just walking into a dealership hoping to be approved for a loan. Instead of being in a position of power when it comes to negotiation, they’re in a position of weakness.

jameswisrik - 9/16/2016 5:37:25 PM

+2 Boost

GM and Ford love their subprime buyers!

MDarringer - 9/16/2016 9:18:46 PM

0 Boost

Everyone does subprime contracts.

TomM - 9/19/2016 11:21:57 AM

+1 Boost

Worse - there are still the used car lots that finance their own cars at astronomical rates where they can - and Leases - where the actual "interest rate" can be huge - even though technically there is no interest rate - so it is not regulated at all.

And while I agree that most mainstream car manufacturers who offer full lines of cars from entry level up do sub-prime contracts -saying that EVERYBODY does them is going too far.

MDarringer - 9/19/2016 9:30:32 PM

+1 Boost

@TomM...you're not in the industry, so you don't know what you're talking about...as usual.

For example, BMW is doing sub-prime contracts BIG TIME on the 3 Series.

ALL major manufacturers ARE writing sub-prime contracts in a race for sales. That is fact.

Generally speaking out of 10 contracts, 2-5 are likely to be sub-prime depending on the brand.